Michelle Hao

Staff Writer '13-'14

The TPHS dance team hosted Dance Day on June 3 in the gymnasium, as part of the changes made to the annual Visual and Performing Arts Days.
This year, VPA Days were split into separate days for art, dance and film. For Art’s Sake, an exhibition of student art, was held from May 28-29, while the film event will be held from June 5-6 in the lecture hall.
Dance Day performances were held each period, and lasted a little over half an hour each. The event featured performances choreographed by students, as well as team competition pieces choreographed by coaches. Dance team members auditioned choreography to be selected for the sho...

The Peer Assistant Listeners program created the Tumblr page “Voices of TP” on May 5 as a part of their new Self-Care and Healthy Living and Acceptance Weeks to promote tolerance and diversity during the second half of May, according to PALs adviser Don Hollins.
“[The goal is to] help the mainstream TPHS student understand the opportunities they have to experience, all the different cultures they have available, all the different languages, all the different foods, and … encourage a growing respect and kindness toward what’s different,” Hollins said.
The page was inspired by Harvard University’s Tumblr page “I Too Am Harvard” and ...

The Del Mar Highlands Town Center will start renovations in fall 2014, scheduled for completion in 2016, to expand Cinépolis Luxury Cinemas, redevelop the south end of the shopping center and construct a new parking structure and KinderCare childcare facility.
According to Elizabeth Schreiber, Vice President of Operations and Development at Donahue Schriber, the Del Mar Highlands Town Center ownership company,the renovations will add another 80,000 square feet of shopping and dining space to the center’s current 283,000 square feet. Originally entitled to a total of 425,000 square feet in the late 1980s, the Highlands will still ...

Wally Pfister’s directorial debut “Transcendence” is ambitious, but falls short of a perfect execution.
At times, the film delves into genuinely disturbing themes that provide profound insight into the complicated relationship between humans and technology. However, an illogical plot and occasionally awkward script hinder the film’s visionary potential.
Sometime in the very near future, Dr. Will Caster (Johnny Depp) and his wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall) work together to develop a technology capable of supporting a sentient machine. Controversy arises as the age-old mystery surrounding the possibility of creating a machine with an...

The Humans of Torrey Pines Facebook page and Instagram account, inspired by the Humans of New York Facebook page, was founded by Jamie Yu (11) and Timmy Holdsworth (11) on April 4 as a “way to bring the community together and get to know different people’s stories,” according to Yu.
The page has accumulated over 370 “likes” and posted four photos, while the Instagram account has 130 followers. According to Yu, she and Holdsworth interview and photograph around five or six people at once and post them throughout the week.
“[Holdsworth and I] just go up to people and ask them, ‘Hey, have you heard of Humans of Torrey Pines?’ and...

According to requirements listed by the SDUSHD website, Independent Study Physical Education is only open to students who have medical conditions, are taking a specialized elective that precludes taking a regularly scheduled P.E. class, are participating in sports not offered by the district, have fulfilled their high school graduation P.E. requirements or are “exceptionally gifted, state or regionally ranked athletes.” However, students that elect to take ISPE because of the independent nature of their sport do not always meet the above requirements.
“The rigidity of [the ISPE regulations are] not as rigid as the language may ...

Baseball (4-2) took down Valley Center High School (1-5) 8-2 at home, maintaining an early lead throughout.
The Falcons took advantage of Valley Center’s unsuccessful pitching and numerous passed balls to take extra bases and gain momentum that lasted throughout the game.
CJ Stubbs (12) got the Falcons on the board first with a sacrifice fly in which second baseman Tommy Baronner (12) tagged up from third to score.
“We played really well as a team,” Stubbs said. “We put up a lot of runs. The pitchers did well [and] stayed down, and got their primary hitters out.”
TPHS kept the lead by shutting out the Jaguars through t...

Tucked away on a street adjacent to Petco Park, CrunchTime is the perfect destination for casual outings in downtown San Diego.
As soon as I walked through CrunchTime’s cluttered entrance, two smiling servers greeted my friend and me with offers of free samples and enthusiastic inquiries about our day. The excellent service, coupled with affordable prices and generous portions, made my experience enjoyable despite the shop’s puzzling state of disorganization.
While CrunchTime’s website advertises a professional, franchise-like establishment, the shop itself is small and messy. A large mound of unidentifiable junk...

Simeon Greenstein retired at the end of the first semester of the 2013-14 school year after 35 years of service in the SDUHSD, and will undergo surgery to replace a hip that has been bothering him for quite awhile. He has been replaced by temporary teacher J.J. Hair until June 2014.
According to Principal David Jaffe, “the pain just got too great” for Greenstein to continue teaching.
“Every step I took really hurt,” Greenstein said. “But, now what really hurts is the fact that the students that I really care about, [that] were the central focus of my life, [are] not a part of my life. I don’t see them anymore. That’s what make...

According to Forbes, 14 states have raised their minimum wages in the past year. Fast food and retail workers across the country have been protesting for a $15 hourly minimum wage, and states like Washington and California have passed bills designating minimum wages at $9.32 and $10, respectively. Unfortunately, these raises are neither productive nor effective in relieving poverty.The majority of employees who hold minimum wage jobs do not live in poverty. According to a 2011 census from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 53.2 percent of workers paid minimum wage were 16-24 years old, and 61.4 percent of minimum wage earners worked ze...